In the 1950s, there was a transition from manual logging methods to logging with chainsaws. By the late 1970s, final felling was being taken over by machines, but in the early 1980s, thinning and a great deal of final Harvesting were still done manually with chainsaws. During the 1980s, harvesters also took over thinning thanks to the development of single-grip harvesters.
Since the advent of machines, forestry has seen enormous rationalization. In the 1970s, a forestry worker logged about 10 cubic meters per day. Today's logging machines harvest between 200 and 300 cubic meters per day.
